| PEOPLE: Laurent Esso |
| Written by Eugene N. Nforngwa |
| Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:10 |
 YAOUNDE--Laurent Esso is a secret. One of President Paul Biya’s most trusted allies, the secretary-general at the presidency, does not stand up to his long years in positions of power. After 22 years in government, he is everything but a public figure – vaporised in the shadows and away from any public scrutiny.But last month was a rare exception: he was in the public eye following the death in jail of journalist Bibi Ngota. Yet, the spotlight was a brief flash and he soon vanished again – without showing his face, without uttering a word.
Mr Esso’s is a very little-known world. Apart from his love for church music, very little is available about the off-duty life of the magistrate and minister of state. Wikipedia, the giant online encyclopaedia, describes his profile as a stub and begs for anyone to help by “expanding” it. Aides call hin a ghost. “He is very drawn in and difficult to predict,” says a former collaborator. “You wouldn’t catch him smiling. You never know what is coming.” A bit of Mr Esso’s “difficult” character flashed out during a 2006 incident. One of his escorts was badly hurt in a crash during a trip to Douala. Aides claim the minister never showed an emotion. “He did not come out even once to see how the guy was doing,” says another former collaborator. Mr Essos’s ability to fade from public into a barely visible silhouette was again on display during the Bibi Ngota affair. Cited as the man behind the arrest that led to the death of the journalist in jail, Mr Esso kept a solid coldness. It took several days for the media to turn to his direction. “I am not surprised he did not react,” says yet another former collaborator, who like all those we spoke to, prefers not to be identified discussing a top official. It could hurt their careers, they all claim. “How many times have you heard him speaking in public? That is not his kind of thing. Faced with a situation, his reaction is often to stay silent. “You sometimes get the feeling that he is in a battle with himself to hide what he truly feels. But you really cannot tell.” That may explain his very long stay in the Biya regime, where talking ministers easily run into trouble. He shares this character with Amadou Ali, the vice prime minister and minister of justice. At 68, Mr Esso, is perhaps the most powerful man in Yaounde after the president of the republic. During Mr Biya’s many absences from the country [and Yaounde], he literally runs the country. Yet, in spite of his more than two-decades in government, the Douala native is difficult to describe as a politician. In 2004, he did not hit the road to join the campaign trail, staying back in Yaounde as a member of candidate Biya’s coordination team. He is often better portrayed as “reform-minded technocrat", even though he has been unable to put much of that attribute to use. Mr Esso joined the ruling club in 1988, when he was appointed deputy secretary-general at the presidency, six years after President Biya came to power. The head of state brought him closer as director of civil cabinet one year after, on April 13, 1989. Seven years later, he left Unity Palace to become minister of justice on September 19, 1996. Then he became minister of public health on March 18, 2000 and a year later, minister of defence on April 27, 2001. Mr Esso became minister of external relations on December 8, 2004; and secretary of state at the presidency on September 22, 2006. “You don’t want to mess with him,” says a fellow member of government. “[Mr] Esso is a cold blooded fellow. You just get that feeling. I think its his expressionless face.” 
 
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Since he was no longer in power President Biya feared the information that he kept and decided to merder him